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Visiting Venice

Brandon and I walked to the Train Station to catch our 10:30 am train to Venice. The trip is 2.5 hours long. Unfortunately, Brandon is seated in a different car so I had a stranger next to me. While riding to Venice, I couldn’t help but watch the Italian country side and it really is beautiful! It may seem like people exaggerate, but it really is everything they say.

Anyway, I fell asleep on the train and was woken up by the woman next to me because one of the train workers needed to validate my ticket. She spoke English so I struck up a conversation with her. It was such a nice conversation! I found out her name is Kerri and she is visiting Europe for her 60th birthday as a treat to herself. She visited London and has been touring all of Italy. She was heading to Venice too and I found out she is from San Francisco. She has a daughter who has already toured Europe and Kerri loves it as much as her daughter did. We talked about our lives, families, and life in general and I had such a nice time. It just goes to show what being nice to people and talking to people you don’t know can do! I hope our paths will cross one day again.

Shortly after Kerri got off on her stop, I arrived in Venice and reconnected with Brandon where we saw Dr. Permenter and her cousin waiting at the station. Shortly after,”the girls” came because we had planned to meet them since they took an earlier train. We left the station and started walking around the city. Listen you guys, I cannot begin to describe how beautiful and perfect Venice is. There was not a single second that passed by I was not fawning over the place. It was beautiful with so many gorgeous churches, the streets were quiet because there are no cars or mopeds, the food was delectable, the canals were pretty, and the bridges were constructed beautifully.

We stopped for lunch at this pizzeria called Sala Interna where I and my friend Ashley split a sausage, mozzarella, corn, and tomato pizza. While we were eating, we noticed how close the birds get to the people. They literally hop on your table and peck at your food. It seems menacing but it was actually kind of adorable. After lunch, we went to the Ponte de Rialto (The bridge in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice) and it was so cool to be on it. It is a majestically crafted bridge that gives you a great view of the main canal.

After the Rialto, we went to Plazza San Marco. Holy cow you guys, the Plazza is one of the most amazing plazas I have ever been to. The buildings surrounding it and the church was magnificent and I cannot wait to show you the pictures. There are also bronze statues of the 4 horses of the apocalypse from Constantinople which is really cool. There is also a huge gaggle of pigeons flocking the plaza and you could literally run through them and watch them scatter. Some lady threw bread and she was engulfed in a rapid rush of wings. As amazing as Plazza San Marco is, the next thing was even more amazing…

I went on a gondola ride!! It was one of the most amazing/relaxing experiences I have ever had! Me, Sam, Ashley, and Madison all went for 20 Euros each and the guy took us on a 35 minute ride. He whistled while we were riding and the gondola was all fancy. We saw amazing views of the city and it definitely looks different from a gondola compared to walking it. And, we got our picture taken by the people on the bridge because they want to see Gondolas so I felt like a celebrity.

After the gondola ride, I followed the girls jewelry shopping where I picked up souvenirs for Aleah and Jocelyn. Fun fact: There are shops with venetian masks everywhere! After shopping, it was time for me to catch my train alone so the girls walked me to the station where I bought a coca-cola (which was the most refreshing and nostalgic thing I’ve had here) and boarded the train.

Looking back at my day yesterday, I would have to say it is one of the best days of my life. From making a friend to a complete stranger, seeing a gorgeous city full of wonder and creation, and truly feeling in pure bliss, Venice is a city that you absolutely most go to!

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